USMS Essay and Project Questions To Ask of Any Literature
Write about a character in your story who makes a physical journey.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Who makes a journey in this story? This could be something as simple as a journey to a
grandparent’s house, or it could be something bigger, a journey from the normal world to a
magical one.
What is the journey? From where to where?
Does the character enter a strange new world?
How do the rules of this world contrast with the rules of the character’s “home” place?
What are the dangers of this new world?
What are the rewards?
Does the character return from the journey?
If so, how is he/she changed?
Does he/she bring any benefits or rewards back?
How does the journey contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a symbol that is central to your story.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Make a list of objects that seem central to the story.
(Sometimes a character can be a symbol too.)
What associations do you have with each? List.
Do any of these objects stand for something more? What?
Often a symbol is a physical object that stands for an abstract idea. What bigger abstract
idea does your symbol represent?
At what points does the symbol/ idea come up in the story?
How do characters respond to it?
How does it contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character in your story who appears to be “crazy” to others and then explain
how this character’s behavior could be seen as logical.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What constitutes “logical” or “normal” or “sensible” behavior in the world of your story?
What constitutes “crazy” behavior?
Why is it “crazy”?
How does the “crazy” person explain his/her behavior (if he/she does).
What other (unexplained) reasons does he/she seem to have?
In the end, what consequences does his/her behavior have for him/her?
For the larger group?
How does this character’s behavior contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character in your story who is alienated from the larger society.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Define the word alienation.
Who in the story is alienated?
Is his/her alienation self-imposed or is it imposed by some other group or set of forces?
What would the character need to do in order to end his/her alienation?
Why doesn’t this happen? Or does it?
Are we as readers rooting for this character’s alienation or are we hoping to see it end?
How does the theme of alienation contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character who is searching for justice. How does this search shape the story
and its meaning?
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
List the major characters and what each of them wants.
Which characters are in search of justice?
What sort of justice does each character have in mind? In other words, what would he/she
like to see happen?
How realistic is this goal?
What does the character have to sacrifice in order to get it?
What is our response as readers?
Do we want the same kind of justice that the character does?
In the end, does our character find justice or a kind of justice?
What is the effect upon him/her?
Upon others?
How does the search for justice contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
How do contrasting settings contribute to the meaning of your story?
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
List the major settings of the story (try for two).
What characteristics do you associate with each?
What characters?
What emotions?
How do these settings affect the characters?
How do the contrasting settings contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character who is morally ambiguous. In other words, he/she has elements of
both good and evil.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
List the major characters.
Which of them are a mix of good and evil?
What are their negative characteristics and what are their positive ones?
How do we as readers respond to both sides?
Does the morally ambiguous character seem to be in conflict?
Or is he/she comfortable with his/her competing impulses?
How does this morally ambiguous character contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character in your story who is caught between two different cultures. What is
the effect of this conflict?
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
A culture could be social, ethnic, racial, or religious. What are the main cultures
represented in this story?
What characteristics does the story associate with each culture?
What choice, if any, does the character make?
Are there consequences to this choice? What are they?
Or, how is the conflict resolved? Or is it?
What is the effect of this conflict on the work as a whole?
Write about the “villain.”
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What is the villain’s “story”?
How did he/she get to be in this position?
What does he/she want?
What is the relationship between the villain and the protagonist?
Are there similarities?
What are the crucial differences?
Do we as readers relate to this villain in any way?
Do we sympathize with him/her?
What does this character show us about ourselves?
How does the villain contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a conflict between tradition and change.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What is the “traditional” in this story? What are its unspoken rules?
What is the “new” in this story? What are its unspoken rules?
Which characters are associated with the traditional and which with the new?
What do characters sacrifice when they go from the traditional to the new?
Are we as readers conflicted too?
Or are we siding with the traditional over the new, or vice versa?
How is the conflict resolved?
What choices do the characters make?
What are the consequences?
How does this conflict contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about the title of your book. What central idea does it refer to?
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Some titles clearly refer to plot or character (such as Romeo and Juliet or The Odyssey).
Some clearly refer to some central metaphor (such as To Kill a Mockingbird). These
metaphor-based titles don’t become clear until later in the novel. Other titles seem to be
both (Where the Wild Things Are, for example, or Ender’s Game). What does the title of your
story refer to?
Examine each word in the title and brainstorm about other possible meanings.
Are there layers to your book’s title?
Is there ambiguity (uncertainty) in some of the words?
How does it contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a conflict between a parent and child.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What does the parent want? Why?
What does the child want? Why?
Do they understand their own desires
Are there other issues contained in this conflict? What are they?
Are we as readers conflicted too?
Whose side are we on?
What choices do the characters make?
How is the conflict resolved?
What are the consequences?
How does this conflict contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a moment in your book when a character makes a critical choice about the
kind of person he/she wants to be.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What seem to be the pivotal moments in the story? List.
Of these, which is most pivotal?
What choice does the character face?
What are the consequences of each choice?
In your opinion, does the character make the right choice?
How does this choice contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character in your book who is torn between a private desire and a sense of
responsibility to a larger group.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Make a list of the major characters and what each wants.
What is the “larger group” in your story? (This could be family, country, friends, race,
culture or other.)
What are the reasons each character has for remaining loyal to the larger group?
What are the reasons each has for pursuing private desires?
What choice does our character make?
How do we as readers respond?
What do we want for the character?
How is the conflict resolved?
What are the consequences and rewards?
How does the conflict contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a mystery that is central to the story.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What questions are the characters facing? List. (These could be questions about a current
situation, or about the past, or about themselves. Generally, they are not questions about
the future.)
Which of these questions do they act upon?
Why does the answer to the question matter?
In the end, how is it resolved?
What does it reveal about our characters or their situation?
How does the mystery contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character who goes against the norms of society.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Make a list of the norms of this social group. Most will be unspoken.
Determine who goes against these rules.
How?
What is at stake?
How is the conflict resolved?
Is the outcome of this person’s opposition positive or negative for him/her?
Positive or negative for the majority?
How does it contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character with a secret.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What is the secret and why does the character keep it?
What is at stake?
What are the consequences both for safeguarding the secret and for revealing it?
How does the secret isolate the person who keeps it?
How do we as readers react?
Would we like to see the secret safeguarded or revealed?
In the end, does the secret come out?
Because the character chooses to let it out or by some other means?
What is the result?
How does the secret contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character who is seeking power.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What do the characters want?
Which seek power? (This may be power over other people or over their own destinies.)
Over whom or what do these characters want power?
Choose one.
How does this person’s struggle drive the story?
What does he/she have to sacrifice?
Does the reader respond sympathetically to this person’s drive to power?
How does the struggle for power contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character who is haunted by some aspect of the past.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What events from the past weigh heavily on this character? List. (These could be events
from his/her own life or events in history.)
Why? What is it about these past events that haunt our character?
To what extent do these events shape who this character is today?
How does the character’s past affect his/her present life?
The past cannot be changed, but often characters seek to find some way not to be trapped
by it. Does this character come to terms with the past?
How?
What questions about the past are resolved?
How does the past contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Write about a character who has an epiphany.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Define epiphany.
Which characters have clear epiphanies in this story?
Choose one character and one epiphany.
What does this character realize?
What are the circumstances surrounding the epiphany? What causes it?
How does the moment change him/her?
How does the epiphany change the story’s outcome and its meaning?
Write about a character who chooses to make a sacrifice for something or someone he/she
values.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Which characters give something up in this story?
What do they give up and how big is it?
What do they get in return, if anything?
What do other people gain from this sacrifice?
Are there intangible rewards for the giver?
How do the other characters respond to this sacrifice?
How do we as readers respond?
Is it worth it?
How does this sacrifice give meaning to the story?
To what extent is the ending of this story “happy”?
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What is the plot outcome of the story?
Who gets what tangible rewards or consequences?
What are the intangible outcomes?
Which characters have changed for the better?
For the worse?
Have any of the characters found resolution to difficult questions?
What are they?
What is the effect of the outcome upon the minor characters?
On this society as a whole?
What is the implied future for these characters?
Is the ending happy? Sad? Mixed?
How does the ending contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Genre Specific questions:
Often science fiction tries to make a statement about our current day culture. What
statement is your book making about the times we live in now?
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What do the words “utopian” and “dystopian” mean?
What is dystopian about this world?
What is utopian?
How did the world become this way?
What warnings are implied in the story?
How do these warnings contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
History books often have a thesis: a question that the author poses and then answers. What
is the thesis of the history book you read and how does the author demonstrate it to be
true?
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Reread the book’s introduction and conclusion with the thesis question and answer in
mind.
What methods does the author use to prove his thesis?
Are you convinced?
How well does the author prove his/her thesis?
Nonfiction books are often investigations. Write about the investigation your nonfiction
book is making.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Make a list of questions this book seems to be investigating. (Reread the introduction to
jog your memory.)
Which are the more significant ones?
What answers, in one-sentence form, does the author provide?
How does he/she do this?
Are there questions that are not answered? (Reread the conclusion again to jog your
memory.)
Fantasy novels are often about a character developing a fuller sense of morality.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Does the protagonist have a moral conflict?
What are the two sides to this to this conflict?
Does the protagonist descend into darkness or “go to the dark side” at some point?
Why?
What answers does he find there?
How does he/she get out?
How does he/ she change?
How does he/she change his world?
Classics are often called so because they seem relevant for many generations to come. To
what extent is the classic you read still relevant today?
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
What key issues does this book seem to be about? (These could be social, character, moral,
religious, etc.)
Which of them are relevant to today’s time period?
In what way?
Why do you think this book should/should not be considered a classic?
In memoir, the author is often investigating his feeling about a particular aspect of his/her
own life. Write about the central issue or issues this author seems to be investigating.
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
Make a list of the issues the author seems drawn to. (These could be a certain relationship,
a certain event, or his/her own weakness, among other things.)
On what particular issue or issues is your author judging him/herself?
What are the two sides of this judgment?
To what extent does the author condemn himself?
To what extent does he/she forgive himself?
Comedy is often tinged with discomfort. Indeed, that strange mixture is often what makes it
funny. To what extent is the comedy in this story tinged with discomfort?
Scaffolding/discussion/pre-writing questions:
List some specific funny moments in the story.
What is uncomfortable about these moments?
What, if anything, is positive?
What other emotions do these moments evoke?
Is there some criticism implied in these moments?
Of our culture? Of our habits? Of us?
How do these comedic moments contribute to the work’s overall meaning?